(b. Carl Louis von Grasshoff) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark July 23, 1865. At the age of sixteen years he left home to learn the engineering profession. For a number of years he was Chief Engineer on one of the large passenger steamers of the Cunard Line plying between America and Europe. From 1895 to 1901, he was a consulting engineer in New York city. Max Heindel moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1903. He became interested in the study of metaphysics and joined the Theosophical Society of Los Angeles, of which he was Vice-President in 1904 and 1905. In 1907 he travelled to Germany with his friend Dr. Alma Von Brandis to hear a cycle of lectures by Rudolf Steiner. Heindel returned to America in the spring of 1909 where he at once started to formulate the Rosicrucian teachings, published as a book entitled The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception: it is a work of mystical and occult science (Esoteric Christianity). It contains a comprehensive outline of the evolutionary processes of man and the universe, correlating science with religion. Following the foundation of The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Oceanside, CA in 1909 he started, with the aid of his wife Augusta Foss Heindel the task of distributing and disseminating the Rosicrucian teachings. From 1909 to 1919, suffering a severe heart condition and with an adverse financial situation, Max Heindel was able to perform a valuable work for the brothers of the Rose Cross: he left a legacy of books, lectures and lessons which are translated into many languages all over the world. He died in Oceanside, California on January 6, 1919.